Animated decoy duck



Jam 1949' c. v. GREENLEAF ANIMATED DECOY DUCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 8, 1947 Carrol I \l-Greenleaf Jan. 25, 1949. c, v, GREENLEAF 2,460,128

ANIMATED DECOY DUCK Filed April 8, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Carroll V. Green/e02 Patented Jan. 25, 1949 ANIMATED DECOY DUCK Carroll VxGreenleaf, Edmonds, Wash, assignor of one-half to Wash.

James I. Greenleaf, Edmonds,

Application April 8, 1947, Serial No. 140,008

4 Claims.

My invention relates to improvements in animated decoy ducks, the primary object in view being to provide a decoy duck rendered animated under the action of waves; ripples and the like, on the water, in a manner to simulate a live duck for use in lieu of the now illegal live duck decoy.

Another object is to provide an animated selfpropelled mechanical duck which is simply constructed, inexpensive to manufacture and use, and which will not get out of order through prolonged use.

Other and subordinate objects, also comprehended by my invention, together With the precise nature of my improvements, and the advantages thereof, will be readily understood when the succeedingdescription and claims are read with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of my improved animated decoy duck anchored in the Water;

Figure 2 is a view of the same in side elevation drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 3 is a view in vertical longitudinal section, with parts shown in elevation;

Figure 4 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; V

Figure 5 is a view in transverse section taken on the line 55 of Figure 4, and drawn to a larger scale.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals, according to my invention, in the illustrated, preferred embodiment thereof, a decoy duck is provided comprising a hollow duck body I of any suitable buoyant material and having an upper front deck opening 2 therein and a removable back panel 3 seating in a bevelled edge back opening 4 for access to the interior of said body.

The neck 5 of the decoy duck is separate from the body I with a lower end extended into the neck opening 2 and pivotally mounted, as presently described, so that said'neck 5 and the head 6 of the duck are adapted to swing forwardly and rearwardly from a normal intermediate upright position.

The mountingfor the neck 5 comprises a flat metal hinge bracket 1 secured in the body I to the front 8 of the body in upstanding position, by screws 9, and provided with a hinged barrel l disposed in a bottom recess II in said neck 5, said barrel having a pivot pin 12 therein extending into said neck. The described mountin for th neck supports said neck and the head 2 6 so that the sameare overbalanced forwardly from a normal, intermediate, upright position.

A propeller 3 at the rear end of the body is suitably fixed on the rear end Hi of a propeller shaft l5 inclining upwardly and forwardly into said body. Any suitable type of leakproofjour nal bearing, not shown, may be provided for the propeller shaft I5 in said rear end 14.

Operating mechanism is provided for rotating the propeller shaft in the proper direction upon both forward and rearward swinging of the neck 5 and head 6, and which will now be described in detail.

A rectangular plate 161s secured by screws ll to the bottom of the body i, within the same, and from which arises a front-endbearing post 8, a central bearing post l9), both in the longitudinal center of the body I, and a pair of laterally: spaced rear end posts 20 upon opposite sides of said longitudinal centerand between which the propeller shaft i5 extends with its front end journalled in the'center bearing post It.

A motion transmitting shaft 2| is journalled in the front end and central bearing posts l8, [9 to extend parallel with the propeller shaft it above the same. Washers 22 and cotter pins 23 prevent endwise play'of said shaft 2i in said posts l3, IS. A pair of suitable gears 24, 25 fast on said shafts 2i and [3, respectively, operatively connect said shaft 2i to said shaft 45. The gear 25 and a washer 26 on said shaft l5, backed by a cotter pin 2'? coact with opposite sides of said post l8 to prevent endwise movement of said shaft I5. 4

A crank plate 28 suitably fixed to the lower end of the neck 5 extends therefrom downwardly and rearwardly, in the plane thereof, and coplanar with the motion transmitting shaft 2|.

A pair of side-by-side links 29 are pivoted on the rear end of the crank plate 28, by cross pin 30;to swing forwardly and rearwardly in upstandingposition.

'A vertically rocking pawl carrying arm 3! extends forwardly over the motion transmitting shaft 2i from the pair of bearing posts 20 with its rear end pivoted, by a cross pin 32,, between the upper ends of said post, and its front end pivoted, by a cross pin 33, between the upper ends of said links 29.

A pair of ratchet toothed pawl plates 34 depend from said arm 3| upon opposite sides of a ratchet wheel 35 fast on the motion transmission shaft 2! and are hinged by pivot pins 36 to opposite sides of said arm 3| to swing under the influence of gravity toward said wheel 35, said plates 34 diverging downwardly, relatively, to cause the same to hug said wheel. The teeth 37 on said plates 34 are pitched oppositely on one plate relative to those on the other plate so that said plates are adapted to operate said wheel 35 alternately by vertical rocking of the pawl carrying arm 3| in opposite directions.

A coil spring 38 is suitably connected at its ends to the pawl carrying arm 31' and to said posts 20, as at 39, 4D to urge said arm downwardly and through said arm, links 29 and crank plate 28 counterbalance the neck and head 6 into the normal, intermediate, upright position, before mentioned.

A bore 1! extends into the neck 5 and head 6, horizontally, and forwardly with a rear-end closure plug 42 therein and a head of mercury 43 is provided in said bore to gravitate toward opposite ends of said bore, which is to say forwardly and rearwardly, when the neck 5 swings in opposite directions, respectively, from normal, intermediate, upright position. Thus, forward and rearward swinging of the neck 5 and head 6 is accelerated.

A suitable cage 44 of reticulated material covers the propeller 3 with prongs 45 inserted in the body 1 to hold said guard in position.

An anchor line 46 with a lead drag 31 thereon is secured to a bottom lug 48 on the body i for anchoring the decoy duck in the water.

Preferably, although not necessarily, swinging of the neck 5 and head 6 in opposite directions is limited by engagement of the crank plate 28 with the top of the body I and with a stop plug 38 on the bottom of said body.

The manner in which the described invention operates will be readily understood. When the decoy duck is anchored in the water, as shown in Figure 1, the waves, ripples, and the like cause the neck 5 and head 6 to swing forwardly and rearwardly, alternately, on the pin l2 and from the normal, intermediate, upright position shown in the drawings. Such swinging of the neck 5 and head 6 is accelerated by the bead of mercury ii-l and imparts vertical swinging movement to the crank plate 28 which, through the medium of the links 29, rocks the rocker arm 3| vertically. Rocking of the rocker arm 3i causes the ratchet toothed pawl plates 34 to alternately rotate the ratchet wheel 35 in one and the same direction to correspondingly rotate the motion transmitting shaft 21 which, through the gears 2 3, 25, rotates the propeller shaft 5 to actuate the propeller l3 so that the decoy duck is propelled through the water around the drag 31. Rocking of the neck 5 and head 6 animates the decoy duck so that the same simulates a live one.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suffice to ceptible of modification without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a decoy duck, a hollow buoyant body, a neck extending into said body and pivoted therein to swing forwardly and rearwardly, a rotary propeller shaft extending into said body and having a propeller fast thereon, and mechanism in said body for rotating said shaft by swinging of said neck.

2. In a decoy duck, a hollow buoyant body, a neck extending into said body and pivoted there in to swing forwardly and rearwardly, a rotary propeller shaft extending into said body and having a propeller fast thereon, and mechanism in said body for rotating said shaft by swinging of said neck, said neck being overbalanced on its pivot to normally swing forwardly from an upright position, said mechanism including a device for counterbalancing said neck into upright vertical position.

3. In a decoy duck, a hollow buoyant body, a neck extending into said body and pivoted there in to swing forwardly and rearwardly, a rotary propeller shaft extending into said body and having a propeller fast thereon, mechanism in said 7 body for rotating said shaft by swinging of said impart a clear understanding of my invention, 50

without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susneck, said neck being overbalanced on said pivot to normally swing forwardly from an upright position, said mechanism including a device for counterbalancing said neck into upright vertical position, and means in said neck movable forwardly and rearwardly thereon by forward and rearward swinging of said neck to overbalance said neck and accelerate forward and rearward swinging thereof.

4. In a decoy duck, a hollow buoyant body, a neck extending into said body and pivoted therein to swing forwardly and rearwardly, a rotary propeller shaft extending into said body and having a propeller fast thereon, and mechanism in said body for rotating said shaft by swinging of said neck, comprising a ratchet wheel operatively connected to said shaft, a pair of vertically movable ratchet toothed plates on opposite sides of said wheel for alternately operating said wheel by vertical movement in unison in opposite directions, and a rocker arm for moving said plates and to which said neck is operatively connected.

CARROLL V. GREENLEAF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 717,790 Yorke Jan. 6, 1903 1,110,245 Vaughan Sept. 8, 1914 

